Nocturne of Madness
by Inarisa
Summary: Seven years have past since Maka defeated the Kishin Asura and a peaceful air has fallen over DWMA. However, when enemies new and old arise Maka and a new generation of meisters must combat madness once again, however, when age old secrets begin to come to light will they be able to achieve victory or are they doomed to fall into the very madness that they fight? OCs. Slightly AU.


**A/N: Hello and welcome to my first Soul Eater fanfiction as well as my first fanfiction to be posted on this site.**

**This story is slightly AU as while it does go off of the end of the anime I will most likely use some elements from the manga either because they explain some concepts better than I felt the anime did or I just liked what they did with the manga better.**

**The story is told from the PoV of both Maka and an OC, just to clear up any confusion that there might be. So please R&R and I hope you enjoy the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters within Soul Eater. The only characters that I own are Arian, Blue*Star, and Life the Kid**

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**Nocturne of Madness**

**Chapter 1-** **Premonitions**

Darkness wasn't a foreign concept to Maka. Her many years of purging the world of Kishin eggs had naturally allowed for her to develop a tolerance for the dark. In fact, she had begun to feel a sort of comfort while in the dark, almost like it was welcoming her. However, the darkness that she found herself in now wasn't comforting in the least. Darkness wasn't even the correct term to describe it. Whereas darkness is the absence of light, this was more like the absence of everything entirely. A void of nothingness spread indefinitely outwards, and even while straining her eyes Maka was not able to discern a solid shape of any sort.

Maka began to frown with unease. This place had an unsettling air to it, a slight shiver passing through Maka as she continued to stare into the void. It was then that she heard the voice, startling her out of her thoughts, "It has been a while, now hasn't it, Miss Maka Albarn." The voice was monotone and slightly high pitched, and while it wasn't too displeasing to the ears Maka couldn't help but flinch. At the same time she had the feeling that she had heard this voice before, a strange sense of déjà vu running through her. Maka ignored the sensation for now, however, and quickly began to look around in an attempt to find the speaker. Yet, she still was unable to make out anything in the nothingness that surrounded her.

"It's rude to speak to someone without showing yourself, you know," replied Maka to the voice, suppressing a wave of fear. She would not show weakness, she had been done with being weak the moment that she killed the Kishin.

The voice only chuckled at her retort, if one could call the sound it made a chuckle that is. It was more akin to a hyena's laugh, a high pitched sound that grated against one's ears painfully. There was only one person Maka could think of that laughed in that manner, and suddenly her feeling of nostalgia made perfect sense.

"Your laugh always did get on my nerves, Asura," Maka remarked, her lips forming into a smirk as another attempt to conceal her fear. It was odd that she didn't connect the voice with the dead Kishin in the first place. There was only one being in existence that could have that level of terror mixed in with a voice that cold. "In fact, I believe that it was one of the reasons that I killed you in the first place. It was getting increasingly difficult to focus on my studies when such an annoying person was still living."

Asura stopped laughing almost immediately, and Maka believed that she heard a small snarl come from him. Maka smiled with the knowledge that she had succeeded in annoying the Kishin. While she had very little power in her current situation she could at least cause the Kishin some displeasure. "You have grown up to become quite the rude girl, you know?" related Asura, his tone clearly showing that he was already exasperated with her. As he spoke Maka was able to see his form slowly materialize a few meters from her, the sight of him causing her to shrink back in disgust.

He was a skinny man, the bandages covering the whole his body hanging slightly loose due to a lack of body mass to grip. What little of his skin you were able to see was tinted a light grey color and was stretched thin, giving him a skeleton like look. His head was completely wrapped in bandages, the only things visible being his trademark three vertical eyes that where painted where his face would be as well as a large grin that seemed to be permanently engraved on his lips.

Asura once again spoke, his smile growing even wider as he realized Maka's disgust towards his grotesque appearance. "Though, it is quite funny that you believe you have killed me…" He trailed off into a hysteric laugh, his body shaking from the force of it. Maka was forced to clasp her ears, the laugh being too shrill for her ears to handle without withstanding intense pain.

At that moment she began to fully become aware of the fact that she was alone in this endless void. Soul wasn't here to hold her and protect her like he had for so long, she was completely alone. Maka desperately tried to dispel this thought; however, it already had shattered Maka's hold on her terror. Panic crashed into her in a giant wave, and she fully began to grasp her situation. She was face to face with the Kishin, a being that was terror incarnate, and she was unarmed as well as without anywhere to run. She was going to die.

"You know this better than anyone, now don't you Miss Albarn. You know that you haven't really killed me like you say you have," mocked Asura as his laugh slowly began to die down. He then suddenly disappeared, leaving Maka alone in the darkness once again. Although, she wasn't left alone long as she heard a sickening crunch, her lips releasing a loud cry of pain as her chest exploded in agony. She slowly looked down, dreading the sight that she was sure she was to see. A pale grey hand emerged from her chest, having been skewered through her from her back. The normally grey skin was now stained dark red with blood. Her blood.

Maka stared at the hand, shock preventing her from taking any action. Asura let the hand remain for a while before ripping it back out in only one motion, causing Maka to emit yet another scream. A gaping hole was left in her chest with the Kishin's hand to plug it and her once white blouse was soon stained a dark red, blood gushing from the wound in sickening quantities. Maka dropped to her knees, as all strength vanished from her legs while her head began to spin. She was going to die here, in this dark place, without Soul or anyone to comfort her. She was going to die alone in this darkness.

After withdrawing his hand from her chest Asura came to stand in front of Maka's crumbled figure. He grabbed a fistful of hair and effortlessly lifted her up, causing another cry of pain to leave her lips. Maka began to squirm around in an attempt to break free, but it was to no avail. His grip was too solid and she was in too much pain to be able to muster up enough strength to break free. Resigned, Maka let herself go limp, her legs dangling a few inches from the bloodstained floor. Upon seeing her defeat Asura's mocking smile grew even wider and he leaned his head towards her, stopping at her ear and whispering in it.

"Madness never truly dies, Maka, it merely lies in wait."

-.-.-

Maka woke up to the sound of her own screaming. Her body was drenched in a cold sweat, and through what little light that was present in her room she could see that her sheets where a mess, evidence that she had been thrashing around in her sleep. Maka began to hug her knees tightly to her chest, rocking back and for as would a child. It was just a dream, she told herself, nothing more than a dream.

She hadn't had a nightmare with that level of realism in years. After her defeat of the Kishin, Maka had constantly been tormented by such dreams often. It had become common for Soul to stay up with her as a source of comfort from her nightmares. Stein had diagnosed it as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder and that its effects would eventually diminish with time. It took years but eventually the nightmares stopped, just as Stein had predicted, yet for her to suffer from one after so long…

Light suddenly flooded into Maka's room as Soul opened her door, quickly moving to her side. "What happened?" he questioned, his crimson eyes filled with worry. Maka didn't respond. Instead, she unraveled herself and put her arms around Soul, pulling him tightly against her. Soul made no comment as she did so, his normal smirk shifting into a light smile. He began to wrap his arms around her, easing away her fear. "It'll be alright," he cooed in a soothing manner, "It'll all be alright, I'm here for you."

Maka stayed in his arms for a long time, even after her initial terror had died down. A shudder ran through her body every once in a while as she replayed the dream in her mind. It had felt so real, and the pain that she had felt when…Maka suddenly gasped, breaking out of Soul's arms and quickly feeling at where her wound had been. She only felt the cloth of her night gown, no hole present. She let out a sigh of relief, leaning on her bed's headboard.

Soul began to speak once more, his voice soft and relaxing, "It happened again didn't it? The nightmares, I mean." Maka nodded in response, a shiver running through her as she thought of her nightmare.

"I was in a dark room," Maka began, her voice shaking slightly. It was unsettling how much the thought of her dream terrified her. Fear such as this was deadly when it concerned a monster such as Asura. "He was there, laughing at me, and before I knew it he had impaled me with his hand, all the while spewing some shit about how madness never died."

Soul frowned, a worried look crossing his face. "Are you alright?" was all he asked, Maka nodding to show that she was. Her body had slowly relieved itself of its tension and her breathing had relapsed into a normal pace. Soul smiled at her nod, stifling a yawn. "That's good. It's uncool to be scared of stupid dreams like those at this age."

Soul's nonchalant response made Maka chuckle. No matter how old Soul grew his carefree attitude would never change, and that was something that she loved about him. Maka lay on her bed for a while longer before she moved to glance at her clock. Through the dim light she was barely able to make out the time, the clock showing 4:17 am.

Sighing, Maka proceeded to get out of bed. She wouldn't be able to sleep any time soon and she had to get up soon anyways, might as well make use this time to do something productive. A yawn escaped her as she began to stretch her limbs, her joints still stiff from sleep.

Maka made a beeline towards her dresser after stretching. Her nightgown had grown uncomfortable, some of the cloth still sticking to her skin due to her sweat. She pulled out a simple pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. There wasn't any real reason to put on anything too flashy, seeing as she wouldn't be going out in public.

She was already halfway out of her gown before she realized that Soul was still in the room, her cheeks quickly growing hot as she looked behind her shoulder to glare at him. Soul had a confused look on his face, his left eyebrow raise quizzically.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused, "We've been together for seven years just about, it's not like this is the first time that-" His speech was cut short as a book slammed into his head, the force of it knocking him to the ground.

"Pervert!" Maka yelled, fists clenched at her side and her cheeks puffed in anger. Soul sighed, getting up and walking out of the room with a hand at his forehead. Maka quickly slammed the door shut behind him and dressed before he had the chance to peek at her. He had probably learned his lesson after being hit that hard but with boys you can never be too careful. Her father was a testament to the fact.

At the thought of her father Maka's blood began to boil. The poor excuse for a father still partook in his womanizing, frequently being seen with a different girl at his arm at a daily basis. Just recently he even transferred out Death City without telling her, saying how 'he wouldn't have been able to leave if he saw her.' Maka unclenched her fists, dispelling her anger. At least he wouldn't be able to cling to her like her had in the past. Her sudden anger vanishing, Maka returned towards dressing herself.

She pulled her ashen hair into a tight ponytail, her face having matured to a point where she could no longer pull off her normal twin tails, and walked out of her room. Soul was nowhere in sight, probably having retracted back into his room to sleep. Maka made her way to the small kitchen that their apartment held, heating some water for coffee. While the water heated she took a quick look the apartment, picking up any stray items that Blair he left before heading out to her nightshift at Chupa Cabra's.

She, Soul, and Blair had lived in the same place for years. They were already comfortable with it and it was too much of a pain to move. However, as Maka began to think about it, the apartment was becoming quite cramped. It was about time that they moved into a house, maybe even kicking Blair out so she and Soul could live in peace. There were quite a few places that where selling now. With the lasting peace that had been erected since the conclusion of the Kishin crisis Death City was no longer the only safe haven available, and as such many people had begun to move in favor of more quaint towns.

Maka went back to the kitchen, the water sufficiently heated. She grabbed some of the instant mix and poured a mug, stirring the mixture until the powder had completely dissolved. Taking a sip of the bitter drink, Maka began to walk towards her office. Well, it was not so much of an office as it was a cleared out closet that she had managed to shove a desk into. Yet another incentive for her to move.

After defeating the Kishin, Maka had easily graduated from DWMA. Due to her status as the valedictorian of her class, as well as the only one of them who had been able to complete a death scythe, Death-sama had offered her a job as a teacher at DWMA immediately upon her graduation. Naturally she took the job, she didn't mind teaching and it allowed her easy access to materials for her research.

When Maka had told Death-sama that she wished to research black blood along with her teaching he had been extremely hesitant. Such a subject was a dangerous one and easily could lead towards madness, yet he eventually relented after she pointed out how little they actually knew about black blood. Crona, as well as Soul, had offered DWMA some information regarding it, but they knew almost as much about it as DWMA did. Thus, Maka spent a great deal of her free time scanning through voluminous texts in an attempt to uncover the secrets that the black blood contained.

Yet, after a year of study she had yet to gain any useful information, only tidbits of knowledge that would hardly be enough to oppose a user of black blood if the need ever arose again. It didn't help that the person whom had created the blood was long dead, killed by Maka's own hands.

Rifling through her notes, Maka quickly grew annoyed. Nothing she had found had come close to explaining the mysteries of the black blood. There was so much that they didn't know about it, so many questions left unanswered. If only she were able to get a sample of the blood! Then she wouldn't need to browse through musty tomes that only gave vague hints towards the subject. Yet, every time they had tried to obtain a blood sample had been met with failure. Any attempts to draw the blood out of Crona had failed, the blood hardening and making it impossible to extract. Soul's blood samples only came out red, however, as if the black blood was avoiding the extraction.

Maka put down her papers, sighing. Her research was getting nowhere. Maybe it was about time she gave up on the project, there was no point continuing on if she was lacked any notable results this far into her studies. Even Stein had yet to make a breakthrough, and he had Crona's assistance in his studies.

Speaking of Stein, he had told her in one of his most recent letters that he was sending her a gift for her studying pleasure. She was sure that it would be another book that only vaguely said the name of black blood and then offered no speculation on the matter. Not like it mattered anymore anyways. It wasn't like anyone would be utilizing black blood any time soon. Medusa had been the only person able to achieve its creation and the knowledge of how she managed to had been lost with her.

Without noticing it Maka had managed to finish her coffee, having been absentmindedly sipping at it while she had been lost in her thoughts. She quickly pushed her chair from out of he desk and was about to make the trip to the kitchen when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She quickly looked at the floor, only to see nothing else of interest in sight. Maka frowned at the lack of an object that would have been moving. Her nightmare must have affected her more then she realized if she was jumping at shadows like this. Maka quickly left her office, shaking her head to dispel any paranoia that she still held as she headed towards the kitchen to fill her mug.

She had never really been much of a coffee drinker until recently. Her research had often lead to many sleepless nights, inevitably causing her to develop a slight caffeine addiction. She now regularly consumed around four to five cups of the brown liquid a day, a fact that continually annoyed her. She didn't like how dependent she was on it, no matter how harmless it may be.

Halfway to her kitchen Maka suddenly paused, her eyes narrowing as a flash of movement caught her eye once again. She had no doubt now, there was definitely something in her house. Yet, as she looked around the living room she once again failed to find anything. A shiver ran down her spine. Even though the house was still quite dark she should have been able to see what entity was continually catching her eye, her eyes had become quite acute to the darkness after having been enrolled in DWMA.

Her dream seemed to have really tampered with her mental state more than she thought that it had. Soul was right, she should have stayed in bed.

The trek remaining to the kitchen felt it took hours, when in truth it had only been a few seconds. Maka had periodically glanced at the floor anxiously along the way, half expecting something to be greeting her in darkness. Yet, for all her worries she managed to make it to the kitchen unharmed. Her fear began to die down as she entered the room. She was being stupid, it was probably just a mouse. She would have Blair take care of it when she got home.

She set her mug in the sink before heading back towards her room, forgoing the idea of another cup. Sleep would do her good, even if it wasn't for long. She had only made it two feet when she discovered the source of her agitations. Slithering across her floor was what looked like black snake, its body shape of an arrow like one would find on sign post. Its form distorted slightly ever so often, almost as its body was made of shadows. However, instead of the terror the she had felt before Maka felt a sudden surge of hatred. Medusa was back. The person whom was solely responsible for Crona's instability and the instigator of the Kishin crisis that had killed hundreds was once again among the living.

And she had the nerve to use one of her minions to spy on her.

Maka stomped on the creature immediately upon seeing it, its body disappearing in a puff of purple. With that done she quickly made her way to Soul's room, not even bothering to knock as she entered. He was up in an instant, having only been in a light sleep, and he began looking at Maka with an extremely confused expression.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice groggy and exhausted.

"Get ready and contact Kid," Maka replied, already walking out the door, "We're going witch hunting."

Maybe she should continue her research after all.

-.-.-

Arian hated traveling at night. As if his sense of direction wasn't horrid enough, the reduced visibility that the darkness instituted made for many long hours of hopeless wandering. He growled in frustration, kicking at the sand that seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions. This was all that bastard Steins fault. Even knowing that Arian was incapable of navigation and that he was without any knowledge of the outside world he had sent him off to Death City alone, claiming that being at DMWA would be an 'interesting experience' and that he 'shouldn't waste his talents cooped up in this lab all day', all the while with his infuriating smile plastered on his face.

"Why was that old fart the person who took me in!" spat Arian, his voice echoing through the dessert. Of course, he wasn't really that disappointed that Stein was the one who took him off the streets. He was incredibly kind towards him and had even taken the liberty of teaching him self-defense techniques. Because of him he was able to live as a normal kid instead of some useless nobody who was begging for food at the side of the street.

Continuing to mutter a variety insults aimed towards Stein, most of them using extremely colorful language, he began to once again move forward, unknowingly heading in the exact opposite direction then he had been before stopping. Another hour past before Arian once again paused, his face distorted with rage. There was no possible way that he had not even caught a glimpse of Death City. With a city that big he ought to have been able to see at least see it on the horizon somewhere, it's not like the Nevada Desert had much that could obscure it from view. Letting out an exasperated sigh he fell to the ground, all will to move on vanishing. He would rather just die here, alone in this cold desert while the moon and its mocking smile watched.

Immediately upon lying down he began to hear footsteps. He bolted upright, only to be met with a foot to the face, the forced of the kick shoving him back into the ground. While the kick itself hardly hurt, the ground sure did. Arian was unable to suppress his cry of pain, as his head beginning to swim.

"And so another prey arrives into the waiting arms Blue*Star!" Chirped a squeaky female voice, obviously quite pleased with herself. The woman lifted her foot to kick him again and Arian wasted no time, quickly rolling to the side as to avoid it. He picked himself up onto his feet, only to be surprised at the image of his attacker.

The women was about his age judging from her youthful face and lack of any distinct curves, most likely around twelve. However, she was quite tall, almost as tall as him if not taller. Her raven black hair was cut short, giving a slight boyish look to her, and she was dressed in a simple black kimono. Simple leather zōri accompanied the kimono, which explains why her kick hadn't hurt as much as it should have. Her eyes where the strangest part about her, her right eye a dark brown in color while her left was completely white save for a small blue star engraved where the pupil should have been.

While Arian was busy examining the girl she had begun to smile, her young face lighting up in enjoyment. "Oh!" She exclaimed, dropping into a simple fighting stance as she did so, "Looks like Blue*Star will actually have some fun with this one!"

Arian frowned in annoyance, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. The girl's overly cheerful attitude was beginning to get on his nerves. What reason did this girl have to attack him? It's not like he had done anything wrong, at least he didn't believe that he had. Though, considering the girls readiness to fight it didn't look like he was going to be able to convince her that he was innocent. He began to resonate with his soul, hands braced in preparation to attack. It looked as if he were going to have to display his fighting technique far earlier than expected.

The girl, Blue*Star he assumed her name was, didn't look like she was the meister of a demon weapon, which was good. No matter how confident Arian was in his fighting abilities he doubted that he would be able to take a meister head on, especially considering how his hours of wandering had left him exhausted.

Blue*Star was the first to act, charging at him recklessly with her fist raised. Arian easily avoided the punch, at the same time unhooking his travel bag from his shoulder and swinging it at her now exposed back. She was as quick to react as he had been, twisting her body around to raise an arm and block the bag. As the girl deflected the bag she sent her foot flying towards him, causing him to drop his bag and jump backwards in order to avoid the kick. He grunted in annoyance as his bag fell to the ground. There were some expensive figurines contained within the bag and there would be hell to pay for whomever broke them.

Having been put off balance from avoiding the last kick Arian was unable to react as the girl sent a fist flying towards his gut. The punch immediately knocked the air from his lungs and was powerful enough to send him flying backwards. He landed on the ground hard, pain arcing throughout his body. This wasn't a favorable fight for him in the least. He was too exhausted to react accordingly and this girl was fast, maybe even faster than Stein was. His only chance would be ending the fight in own blow, which at this point he doubted he could land.

Blue*Star slowly walked over to his prone figure, seeming to relish the sight of him pain. "I lied, you weren't fun at all" the girl pouted, disappointment clear in her speech, "Oh well." She sent another kick headed towards his chest, attempting to finish him off while he was still recovering from the fall. However, what she hadn't expected was that Arian had been raised in the slums for a better part of his life, allowing him to developed an above average recovery time to such blows. He was lift his arm to block the blow, a sharp jolt of pain running through it due to the force of the kick. However, he ignored the throbbing, instead grabbing the girl's ankle with his free arm. He smiled as the girl unsuccessfully tried to free her leg from his grip, this girl was good but she lacked awareness.

Arian then released his soul wavelength through his arm, accompanied by a shouted "Soul Purge!" Blue*Star cried out in pain as she was shocked by the wavelength, stumbling backwards as clutched her wounded leg. A burned patch of skin lay where Arian's hand had been, having been scorched upon contact of his condensed soul wavelength. Stein had taught him the technique only a few months before sending him off and it had already one him numerous street fights. Arian struggled to his feet, composing himself and once again readying himself for an attack. His Soul Purge didn't seem to have been enough to completely incapacitate her, which confused Arian. There were not many who could withstand such an attack, even if he had been holding back. The next hit, however, would be enough. There was no possible way that the girl could survive another attack like that.

Surprisingly, however, the girl began to laugh. "I lied again, you really are fun!" she managed to yell out in between laughing, "That was just like when I spar with father!" Then, as suddenly as her laugher began it stopped, her eyes suddenly hardening into a look of pure murder. As she did so her soul seemed to nearly double in size, her seemingly average soul now large enough to surround her body. Yet, as she was about to charge at him Blue*Star was suddenly stopped by a hand on her shoulder, startling both her and Arian.

The owner of the hand was a man of about average height. He had on a red hoodie and had its hood up, which served to completely enshroud his face in shadow due to the poor lighting that the moon gave off. He had on a pair of light wash jeans with a small chain looped through one side and a pair of black boots clothed his feet. No matter how Arian looked at him he got the impression that he was one of those bad boys whom enjoyed getting into fights. Why would someone like stop a fight like this?

"Now, now Blue*Star," the boy said, his voice calm and friendly which was a stark contrast to the gruff and menacing tone that Arian had expected, "We wouldn't want to have innocent and nicely dressed person lying on the ground in pieces now would we?" Arian bristled at this comment. He was by no means a proud man, but for a stranger to insult his strength so blatantly was infuriating.

Much to Arian's surprise Blue*Star relaxed, her face returning to its friendly and grinning self. The boy then turned to Arian, bowing slightly in an apologetic manner. "I'm sorry about Blue*Star here. She tends to get a bit excited when it comes to the prospect of a fight. I do wonder though why you are wearing such clothes when out in the middle of a desert." remarked the boy, cocking his head to the side in a baffled manner, "Isn't it hot?" Arian was used to the question. Ever since Stein had brought him to a ball that DWMA had held a few years back he developed a strange obsession with suits. He now rarely clothed himself in any other attire, the stiff clothing being more comfortable than the usual clothing that others wore.

"It's just fine, besides, it's cool out right now." Responded Arian, still suspicious of the newcomer. "Now I would appreciate if you took your friend and left, I don't fancy almost dying again."

"But we only just met! Oh, that reminds me that I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Life the Kid. And this little guy…" Life pointed at his shoulder, "…is Shin." Arian stared at Life with confusion. Did this person just introduce his shoulder? These two where definitely not normal.

"Um…Alright, whatever you say hood man." Arian replied, hoping to get away from the two as quickly as possible. It then struck him that the two may know where Death City was. It was obvious that they either where traveling there or had been leaving it. There wasn't anywhere else in this god forsaken desert that was of interest after all. He decided to ask them, even if they were strange Life seemed to be friendly enough to tell him, "So, by any chance do you know where Death City is? I'm not proud to say it but I seem to be lost."

His question was only met with a confused looked from Blue*Star. He assumed that the pair hadn't heard him when the both of them burst into laughter. "What are you, blind?" managed Blue*Star while wiping at her eyes, "Look behind you!"

"What are you talking about," questioned Arian, not fully understanding their sudden laughter, "There isn't anything behind-"Arian cut himself short as he turned around, his jaw dropping. Only a mile away proudly stood Death City, the mass of buildings towering into the sky. He was dumbstruck, he had been wandering for hours and had almost been on the verge of death, only to find that his destination had been right before his eyes the whole time. Arian slowly turned to Life, pointing towards the city with his mouth still gapping open. "That….that wasn't there before." was all he could stammer out, which was only met with more laughter from the strange duo.

Stein was going to pay for this.


End file.
